[PDF] Economic Justice in Haiti Requires Debt Restitution

and lasting solution to Haiti's grinding poverty: restitu- tion of the independence debt imposed by France in 1825 The debt—calculated at $21 billion in current

Haiti and France: Settling the Debts of the Past

Haiti and France: Settling the Debts of the Past Charles Forsdick Haiti has never really been a French colony, but we have effectively enjoyed, for a long time,

[PDF] Public debt and slavery : the case of Haiti (1760 - Thomas Piketty

Haiti had been under french control since 1697 until the war of independence led against Napoleon in 1804 France failed to reinstate their domination over Haiti

[PDF] Haiti, France and the Independence Debt of 1825 - The Canada

This article examines Haiti's “Independence Debt” – levied by France as Debt in 1825; Haiti's repayment efforts through 1947; and the Debt's impact on Haitian

[PDF] THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION

Some plantations were foreclosed on and became property of French banks because the planters couldn't manage the debt level Residents of the colonial period

Frances Overdue Debt to Haiti - SSRN Papers

6 Despite substantial obstacles, Haiti should bring claims in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) asserting that France's charging of the Independence Debt

[PDF] The fault line in Haiti runs straight to France - SahayaSelvamorg

it with debt and permanently stunted the economy The fault line runs back 200 years, directly to France In the 18th century, Haiti was France's imperial jewel

IRC Americas

americas.irc-online.org ANew World of Citizen Action, Analysis, and Policy Options The July donors' meeting refused to discuss the one fair and lasting solution to Haiti's grinding poverty: restitu- tion of the independence debt imposed by France in

1825. The debt - calculated at $21 billion in current dol-

lars - dwarfs current aid commitments and its payment would allow Haitians to develop their economy without the attached strings that keep poor countries dependent on international aid.

Haiti won its independence from France in 1804,

through a bloody 12-year war, becoming the second independent country in the Americas and the only nation in history born of a successful slave revolt. But world powers forced Haiti to pay a second price for entrance into the international community. They refused to recognize Haiti's independence, while French warships remained off its coasts,threatening to invade and reinstitute slavery. After 21 years of resisting, Haiti capitulated to France's terms: in exchange for diplomatic recognition, Haiti's government agreed tocompensate French plantation owners for their loss of "property," including the freed slaves; compensation tobe paid with a loan from a des- ignated French bank. The debt was ten times Haiti's total 1825 revenue and twice what the United States paid France in 1803 for the Louisiana Purchase, which contained seventy-four times more land.

The debt was a crushing burden on Haiti'seconomy.

The government was forced to redirect all economic activity to repay it. A huge percentage of government revenues - 80% in some years - went to debt service, at the expense of investment in education, healthcare, and infrastructure. The tax code and other laws channeled private and public enterprise to export crops such as tropical hardwoods and sugar, which brought in foreign currency for the bank but left the mountainsides bar- ren, the soil depleted, and the population hungry. Haiti did not pay off the independence debt until 1947. Over a century after the global slave trade was eliminat- ed as the evil it was,Haitians werestill paying their ancestors' masters for their freedom. After the debt was paid, Haitians were left with a chronically undeveloped economy, rampant poverty, and a spent land - today rel- atively minor environmental stresses like tropical storms cause catastrophic damage in vulnerable Haiti. Economic instability has engendered political instability. Haitians have endured more than 30 coups since 1825, and most of the resulting rulershavebeen malignant dictatorships

The independence debt was not only immoral and

onerous, it was also illegal. In 1825 aggression and oppression did not violate international law, but the reintroduction of slavery - the threat underlying the debt agreement - did. It had been banned by three treaties that France had signed by 1815. Haiti has a new democratic government, and an oppor- tunity to make a clean break from the past. The $750 million that the international community has promised towards this transition is a lot of money, but it is less than a year'sinterest on the $21 billion dollars that Haiti owes France. Moreover, if the past is any guide, not all of the promised moneywill arrive,and much of it will come with strings attached - loan repayments, import tariff reductions, privatization of government

Americas Program Commentary

Economic Justice in Haiti Requires Debt

Restitution

By Anthony Phillips and Brian Concannon Jr. | September 7, 2006 Ameeting of international diplomats and financiers in Port-au-Prince this summer ended up with a commitment of $750 million in foreign aid to Haiti over the coming year. This generosity will build

badly needed roads, schools and hospitals, which will make a real difference to ordinary Haitians - the

poorest people in the Americas - in the short-term. But what Haiti really needs to permanently end centuries of misery is not the world's charity, but its justice. services, etc. - that will perpetuate Haiti's dependence oninternational help. If the international community really wants to help Haiti, repayment of the independence debt will be at the top of the agenda, not off the table. A just repay- ment of the independence debt, by contrast, would allow Haiti to develop the way today's wealthy countries did - based on national priorities set inside the country. It would also right a historical wrong, and set a strong example of good neighbor policies for a global neigh- borhood. Anthony Phillips works with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH). Human rights lawyer

Brian Concannon Jr. directs the IJDH, found at

www.ijdh.org.and is an analyst with the IRC

Americas Program at www.americaspolicy.org. This

article was original published on TomPaine.com at aiti.php.

Published by the Americas Program of the International Relations Center (IRC, online at www.irc-online.org). ©Creative Commons - some

rights reserved.

The Americas Program

"A New World of Citizen Action, Analysis, and Policy Options"

Founded in 1979, the IRC is a nonprofit policy studies center whose overarching goal is to help forge a new global affairs agenda for the

U.S. government and people - one that makes the United States a more responsible global leader and partner. For more information,

visit www.americaspolicy.org or email americas@irc-online.org.

Recommended citation:

AnthonyPhillips and Brian Concannon, Jr., "Economic Justice in Haiti Requires Debt Restitution," IRC Americas Program (Silver City, NM:International Relations Center,

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